Job #2Softening the Water!
Okay! It's now time for job number two at the Camrose Water Treatment Plant. Job two is to make the water softer.
What is "soft" water?When water leaves the sky in the form of rain, the water is "soft." Soft water is free from any impurtities. Many people remember collecting rainwater in a barrel to use for washing hair and clothing. There was a reason for it. Rainwater is naturally soft.
Soft Water
- Hair washed in softened water is thoroughly clean, smooth, and natural looking.
- Soft water makes glassess and silverware sparkle without spots.
- Soft water makes clothes cleaner, softer, and brighter. It also helps clothes last longer.
- Soft water leaves skin and hair soft and silky smooth.
- Soft water lowers the damage caused by mineral build-up to water-using appliances like washing machines and dishwashers.
- Soft water saves cleaning time, saves on the cost of soaps, detergents, and shampoo.
- Soft water lowers the energy needed to heat water, so your gas and electric bill will be lower.
- Softened water does not leave scum in your sinks and tubs.
- Softened water lowers costly plumbing repairs caused by mineral build-up.
What is "hard" water?
As the rain water falls, it picks up some carbon dioxide and dirt particles in the air. The
water also dissolves calcium and magnesium salts as it soaks through the earth and runs off into rivers or lakes.
Too much calcium and magnesium in the water, makes the water hard.
Hard Water
- Soap will not make bubbles in hard water. The soap combines with minerals in the water to form a
curd that sticks to your body.
- Soap and minerals in the water combine to make a curd. This makes clothes look grey. Clothes
wear out faster when washed in hard water.
- Hard water causes peas and beans to become tough, rubbery and shriveled when cooked.
- Hair washed in hard water is covered with soap scum. That makes hair break easily, and hard to clean.
- Hard water can eventually clog faucets and other plumbing.
- Hard water makes it harder to clean.
The cleaners do not work as well in hard water. More time and energy is needed to clean.
- Hard water particles can build up in hot water heaters.
That causes the hot water heater to work less well, and can cause the heater to wear our much quicker.
- The hard water minerals combine with soap to form bathtub rings and leave spots on glasses and silverware.
How can we make hard water soft?
Hard water can be made soft by removing the calcium and magnesium that is dissolved in the water.Water Treatment Plant Softens Water
The water travels into another clarifying tank. Lime is added to the water. Lime is able to join with the calcium and
magnesium particles in the water.
When the lime links with calcium and magnesium, new and different particles are formed. These new particles
are heavier. In fact they are so heavy that they will no longer stay suspended in the water. They drop to the bottom of the tank.
Wow! This is heavy stuff!
A large rake at the bottom of the tank pushes all this white sludge to the middle of the tank.
The sludge falls through a pipe and then flows into a centrifuge. The centrifuge spins water out of sludge. Then the
thick white sludge is put onto a truck and taken to the landfill. Farmers can use this sludge on their fields.
